


Up in the Air

by tablelamp



Category: Mary Poppins (Movies)
Genre: F/F, Flirting, Kissing, OK Very Repressed Flirting, Single mother Winifred AU, So no cheating, sort of flirting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-11
Updated: 2020-02-11
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:01:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22483801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tablelamp/pseuds/tablelamp
Summary: It was somehow impossible to separate the two names for this particular person; to Winifred, she could be neither a 'Mary' nor a 'Poppins.'  Both parts of the name were essential.
Relationships: Winifred Banks/Mary Poppins
Comments: 1
Kudos: 24
Collections: Chocolate Box - Round 5





	Up in the Air

**Author's Note:**

  * For [phantomlistener](https://archiveofourown.org/users/phantomlistener/gifts).



The first time Winifred had a conversation of any length with Mary Poppins, she was in the process of storing her suffragette sashes in the cupboard. She turned, and Mary Poppins was behind her.

"Oh, Mary Poppins!" she said. It was somehow impossible to separate the two names for this particular person; to Winifred, she could be neither a 'Mary' nor a 'Poppins.' Both parts of the name were essential. "I didn't hear you come in."

"Certainly not," Mary Poppins said, looking affronted. "I never traipse about like an animal in a zoo!"

"Yes, of course," Winifred agreed, feeling a bit flustered. "How silly of me." She shut the cupboard door and turned to find Mary Poppins regarding her very closely.

"There's no one silly here," Mary Poppins said, her voice as intent as the look in her eye.

"Naturally not," Winifred said, eager to please Mary Poppins, who seemed most exact in everything she did. How dreadful if Winifred should say something that caused Mary Poppins to leave! She turned to go.

"Wait," Mary Poppins said, touching Winifred's arm.

Winifred turned back, puzzled.

"I need you to understand," Mary Poppins said, this time with a quiet gravity. "There is no one silly here."

Winifred wasn't used to being taken seriously. She found she rather liked it. "Oh. Thank you."

"Unless you believe that I am silly," Mary Poppins said, her expression almost challenging Winifred to say so.

Winifred knew better. "That could never be said of you, Mary Poppins."

Mary Poppins smiled at the compliment. "You see? Entirely sensible."

Winifred smiled too. "I do try." She hadn't seen Mary Poppins in such a good mood before. Her eyes positively sparkled. "How pretty you are!"

Mary Poppins managed the interesting feat of looking pleased and embarrassed at the same time. "Thank you."

"I wish we had known each other as girls," Winifred said. "I almost feel we might've been chums." The moment the words were out of her mouth, she winced at the sound of them. It seemed somehow presumptuous to assume intimacy with someone as proper as Mary Poppins.

"Perhaps we might," Mary Poppins said. "Still, it's not done to become too well acquainted with one's employer."

Winifred took a step back, face hot at the set-down. "Of course."

"So," Mary Poppins said, "we shall have to wait until you are no longer my employer." The way Mary Poppins spoke those words, Winifred could almost believe Mary Poppins had a sense of humour, though in other circumstances it was not much in evidence.

"We shall?" Winifred said hopefully.

Mary Poppins nodded, her expression as unruffled as if she'd been discussing the weather. "Until then."

Winifred nodded. "Until then." She wondered if Mary Poppins had been this cryptic with her previous employers.

***

Jane and Michael often said that Mary Poppins was magic, and Winifred could believe it. She found herself thinking about different sorts of things with Mary Poppins in the house, things she'd never considered before. For instance, Mary Poppins had such a lovely mouth. What might it be like to kiss it?

Not that Mary Poppins was the sort of person Winifred could imagine allowing anyone to kiss her--at least, not the way she behaved with the children and around the house. She was a very model of decorum, and models of decorum didn't kiss people whenever they felt like it. They generally didn't kiss people at all.

That didn't stop Winifred from wondering how kissing her might be, or how Mary Poppins might be if she let her decorum slip a bit. Who was Mary Poppins at heart? Did she love anyone? How would it feel to be loved by such an extraordinary person? Sometimes Mary Poppins looked at Winifred with eyes that were far too wise, as though she could see everything that went on inside Winifred. Perhaps she could. Winifred had been informed by reliable sources that she wasn't exactly unreadable.

When Mary Poppins left, Winifred wasn't surprised, not really. People who brought joy into a place, if they weren't children, never seemed able to stay.

They weren't friends, and had never been friends. So Winifred couldn't be sure why she missed Mary Poppins so much.

***

It was an early summer evening, and Winifred was quite alone in the house. She was looking at one of the bookshelves, debating the merits of sitting down to read something that she likely wouldn't be able to finish before the children returned from the park. When she turned, Mary Poppins was standing in the doorway.

"Mary Poppins, you've come back to us," Winifred said, crossing the room eagerly. "The children will be so pleased to see you."

"I haven't come for the children," Mary Poppins said.

Winifred's heartbeat inexplicably quickened. "You mean--me?"

Mary Poppins nodded, moving closer to Winifred. "I find I'm having trouble with my hairpins." She took Winifred's hand in hers, guiding it to her hair. "Will you help me?"

Winifred knew very well that if Mary Poppins had no difficulty wrangling two headstrong children, a handful of hairpins were not beyond her capabilities. Which meant that something else was happening. Perhaps Mary Poppins wanted to be touched, and couldn't ask for such a thing.

"Of course," Winifred said, brushing her fingertips over Mary's hair. With gentle, searching fingers, she found the hairpins, and drew them out, one by one. Mary remained still as her painstakingly tidy bun unspooled, her hair gradually tumbling free until it fell unrestrained around her shoulders. Winifred had never thought to see Mary Poppins in such a state. It was rather exciting.

"I did want to see you this way," Winifred said, feeling she ought to be honest.

Mary nodded. "I wanted you to," she said, in a different sort of voice than Winifred had ever heard her use before. She sounded almost gentle.

"May I?" Winifred asked.

"Please," Mary answered.

Winifred brushed Mary's hair back from her face, her touch gliding over Mary's cheek along the way. Then, before she could rethink her decision, Winifred leaned in and kissed Mary's lips.

A kiss was such a little thing. Winifred would never understand how it could affect the way a person felt so deeply. This kiss brought with it at once a sense of yearning but also a sense of relief, of something longed-for finally achieved.

When Winifred ended the kiss, she felt almost dizzy. "I hope that was all right."

Mary arched an eyebrow. "Meaning?"

"For you," Winifred explained, stroking Mary's hair gently. "I hope it was all right for you."

A look of unrestrained emotion emerged in Mary's eyes for a moment. Winifred could only attempt to interpret what Mary felt, but she thought that perhaps people didn't ask Mary if she was enjoying herself very often.

Mary straightened, and the look of emotion was gone. "It was entirely satisfactory," she said, but the words didn't have the bite she'd normally invest them with.

Winifred smiled. "I'm glad."

Mary covered Winifred's hand with her own. It was a brief touch, but it meant as much as a million kisses to Winifred. "The children will be home soon."

"Won't you stay?" Winifred asked, even though she knew what Mary's answer would be.

Mary shook her head. "No. Thank you. But I do hope I might return soon."

"Oh, so do I!" Winifred felt a bit giddy at the thought. "Do you know, the children say you're magic."

Mary's expression was carefully impassive. "Do they."

Winifred beamed. "I think they must be right."

"Well," Mary said, "if you're quite finished, I'll say good evening." She moved toward the door.

Winifred realised something all at once. "Oh, Mary Poppins?"

Mary turned, expression expectant.

"When did you have time to put your hair up?" Winifred asked. Because it was up now, in the tidy bun it had been in when Mary had entered the room. Winifred had been looking at Mary the whole time she'd been here, and hadn't seen her do it.

Mary attempted to fight back a smile. "Stuff and nonsense."

Winifred laughed. "Good night, my love."

Once again, Mary looked briefly as though her emotions had been touched, somewhere below her implacable surface.

"Good night," she said, and hovered in the doorway a moment before leaving.

Winifred didn't need to hear _my love_ in return from Mary Poppins. If she understood these things correctly, it had been very much implied.


End file.
